Must-see art exhibitions 2019: Outside of London

Magdalene Odundo, Hepworth Wakefield

No art form speaks of humanity and human history quite like pottery; crafted by hand and imbued with both ceremonial and quotidian significance, vessels even look like human figures, with slender arms, round bellies and functional necks. Magdalene Odundo's exhibition at Hepworth Wakefield explores her own elegant practice in the context of a 3,000 year history, looking at the traditions of Africa, Asia, Europe and Central America. Odundo also takes inspiration from fabric design and sculpture. This beautifully designed exhibition includes works by Degas, Barbara Hepworth and El Anatsui.

Paula Rego: Obedience and Defiance, MK Gallery

MK Gallery in Milton Keynes has just reopened following a major expansion, which has doubled the exhibition space. In June a major retrospective of Paula Rego's work – the first in England in over a decade – will grace the new gallery space. Rego's long career examines the challenges of womanhood, most of which she has faced herself, but she has a wicked sense of humour. Expect fairytales and monsters in familiar surroundings.

Oscar Murillo: Violent Amnesia, Kettle's Yard

If you are exploring the dreaming spires of Cambridge this spring be sure to pop into Kettle's Yard House and Gallery. Between the years 1958 and 1973 the house was home to curator H.S (Jim) Ede, and his wife Helen. The couple amassed an impressive collection of art, and the house has been preserved as they left it. The adjacent gallery holds regular exhibitions, welcoming the work of Columbian painter Oscar Murillo in April.

Huguette Caland, Tate St Ives

This May Tate St Ives, winner of the Art Fund Museum of the Year Award in 2018, presents a solo show of work by Lebanese artist Huguette Caland. Caland's work sits between the abstract and the figurative, centring on the female form. The colourful paintings and intricate drawings in this exhibition are taken from the late 60s to early 80s but Caland's career has spanned 48 years. In that time she has collaborated with artists, designers and writers and, while living in Paris, she worked with the fashion designer Pierre Cardin. This exhibition will include a selection of the fabrics that she created with him.

Matthew Day Jackson: Pathetic Fallacy, Hauser & Wirth Somerset

It may be hard to believe, but one of Britain’s best contemporary art venues is nestled in deepest rural Somerset, where art world power couple Iwan Wirth & Manuela Hauser set up camp in 2015. Yep, that’s right – the country home for gallery Hauser & Wirth is at Durslade Farm in Bruton, where a striking modern space in solid stone has taken shape from the shell of the old farm buildings.

The gallery's latest exhibition presents a body of new work by Matthew Day Jackson, made during his time as artist-in-residence. The multi-disciplinary works on display explore the artist's continued investigation into society’s relationship with the environment.

Once you have wandered around the exhibition, though, make sure you spend time in the gorgeous garden, devised by garden designer Piet Oudolf. Refuel by grabbing a bite to eat or a coffee in the delicious on-site Roth Bar and Grill, where all food is made with Durslade Farm's own produce.

Leonardo Da Vinci art exhibition: A Life in Drawing, Around the UK and The Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace

To celebrate the 500th anniversary of Da Vinci's death, The Royal Collection Trust is partnering with twelve institutions around the UK to simultaneously showcase 144 exquisite drawings by the master's skillful hand. All of the 144 works, together with a selection of works on paper from the Queen's personal collection, will then be brought together for a once-in-a-lifetime exhibition at the Queen's Gallery London in May.

Jeff Koons exhibition, Ashmolean Museum

You're going to want to plan a trip to Oxford this spring: the Ashmolean Museum presents a major exhibition of controvertial artist Jeff Koons. Curated by Koons himself and guest curator Norman Rosenthal, this landmark show, spanning the artist's prolific career, will trace Koons's creative trajectory since exploding onto the contemporary art scene in the 1980s.

Charles Rennie Mackintosh: Making the Glasgow Style, Liverpool Walker Art Gallery

Born in 1868, Scottish artist Charles Rennie Mackintosh pioneered the Art Nouveau movement in the UK and championed The Glasgow Style – a term which refers today to the design and decorative arts centred around the work by teachers, students and graduates of the Glasgow School of Art circa 1890 – 1920.

Exploring the life and work of Rennie Mackintosh and his contemporaries, this exhibition presents more than 250 objects from the period. Expect an eclectic display of decorative objets d'art, drawings, stained glass windows, paintings, sculpture and more.

Vuillard: The Poetry of Everyday Life, The Holburne Museum

Like his compatriot Pierre Bonnard, French artist Edouard Vuillard is best known for his intimate interior scenes of domesticity. Influenced by Gauguin and Degas, Vuillard experimented with distortion and pattern in his work, exploring the psychological realm of domestic objects. This majestic exhibition focuses on the first 10 to 15 years of his mature career, presenting delicate drawings alongside prints and paintings from private collections rarely seen before in the UK.

Keith Haring, Tate Liverpool

Friends with Jean-Michel Basquiat and Jenny Holzer, Keith Haring rose to fame as an artist-activist in 1980s New York. A champion of the city's counter-culture art scene, Haring is best known for his painted scrawls on subways and large-public art installations that broached socio-political issues, including AIDS, homophobia and drug addiction.

This June the first major exhibition of Haring's phenomenal work comes to Tate Liverpool. Vibrant paintings, drawings, and sculptures will sit alongside posters, videos and photographs that capture the vibrancy of 1980s New York street culture.

Yorkshire Sculpture International 2019, The Hepworth Wakefield, Leeds Art Gallery, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Henry Moore Institute

Running across four art galleries in Leeds and Wakefield for 100 days, this free sculpture festival celebrates sculpture in all its glorious forms. Each of the four galleries will host curated exhibitions, displaying everything from contemporary sculpture to renowned sculptural works by Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth. Yorkshire Sculpture International will be accompanied by a series of complimentary events, talks and workshops.

Bridget Riley, Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh

Vibrating abstractions, psychedelic surfaces, and graphic patterns. Britain's most revered queen of optical experiences gets a solo show at the Scottish National Gallery this summer, before her major exhibition at Hayward Gallery London.

Riley's first major large-scale museum retrospective held in the UK for 16 years charts the pivotal moments in the artist's prolific career, from her early monochrome paintings of the 1960s to recent large-scale wall paintings. Spanning 70 years of Riley's work, this exhibition offers an unparalleled insight into the creative trajectory of one of the most groundbreaking artists of our time.

Otobong Nkanga, Tate St Ives

Nigerian artist Otobong Nkanga – the current artist-in-residence at the Cornish arm of Tate – explores the complex relationship between land, environment, natural resources and the body in a diverse array of though-provoking paintings, drawings and sculpture.

If you make it all the way down to St Ives, we also recommend heading to the nearby Barbara Hepworth museum to see the magical home and sculpture garden of Modernist sculptor Barbara Hepworth. Two for one!